What differences do you notice between the left and right sides of the timeline? Pre-history—which means “before history”—simply refers to that period of the past before written records were kept. This could go as far back as the beginning of time. In this course, however, we will look at the prehistoric past only during the period in which humans have inhabited Georgia. The date the prehistoric era ended can be different from place to place and people to people. For example, Georgia’s prehistory ended earlier than in California or Michigan but later than in England or China. The key is to find out when people f rst kept written records about their culture. The answers will differ around the world. Georgia’s prehistoric period ended less than 500 years ago. Native Americans had lived here for thousands of years but had not developed a written language. Without writing, they could not permanently record the story of their past. Prehistoric jewelry, arrowheads, tools, pottery, and other evidence have been unearthed, but these early Indians left nothing in writing to tell us about their culture.​ In 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and a party of 600 adventurers became the fi rst Europeans to write eyewitness accounts about the Indians they saw. One even drew a map so others could learn of their discovery. For the fi rst time, written information was recorded about Georgia. That is why we consider 1540 as the end of Georgia’s prehistoric era and the beginning of its historic period.

​Exactly when and how the first humans set foot on the North American continent continues to be a matter of debate among archaeologists. However, it is widely believed that as recently as 12,000 years ago, humans came on foot from Asia. Look at a map or globe and you will see that Asia and North America are separated by an ocean. How, then, was it possible to walk to our continent? The first humans arrived long ago during a geological period known as the Ice Age. Cold temperatures caused a great deal of the earth’s water to freeze into glaciers and polar ice. As a result, ocean levels were as much as 300 feet lower than today. One land mass exposed during the Ice Age was Beringia—the land between present-day Alaska and Siberia.